Torn rotator cuff.

[2busy]

At least y'all got re-hab. I was stuck at home by myself.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Had my right shoulder torn and operated on, not through the VA though.

If you do it get a Ice Man, it’s basically a small igloo ice chest with a circulating pump that attaches to a pad that’ll attach to your shoulder after the surgery and you fill it with ice an water.

It sure helped me when I came home and recouped.

I had 3 tiny little holes in each shoulder. No swelling, no pain (from the incision sites), no nothing. It just sucked having to wear the huge sling for 6 weeks. I never really had any pain until the scar tissue formed both times...then I lost much of the range of motion I'd gained back during rehab/PT and it started hurting again. After that was fixed, PT got a lot easier. I'm pain free now...in the shoulders, anyway.

I did have a huge bruise that went all the way down my arm and into my chest and ribcage area on the right side after the surgery because I had a bicep tendon repaired/relocated also. Forgot about that.

 

[HoLeChit]

I've had torn rotators in both shoulders. Left shoulder in Feb 2013, right in Feb 2019. The surgery isn't bad at all. It's the recovery and rehab that takes forever. And I tend to develop a lot of scar tissue so I had to have a second surgery to remove scar tissue that was binding the shoulder on the left side, and a manipulation to tear up scar tissue on the right side. After I healed, though, both have been great and pain free. Mine were both workers comp from slipping on ice/snow exactly 6 years apart...same day.

I'm guessing you go see you primary care VA doc, get a referral for probably an MRI, then get the surgery. It shouldn't be a big deal.

I feel your pain, that’s how I tore the left the second time. Slipped on ice working in your old home state, tried to catch myself on the truck beside me as I was falling backwards.

I appreciate the insight, and the full recovery really sounds promising.

First, you have to be registered at the VA. Then you have to see a Primary Care Doctor who will refer you to Orthopedics. (somewhat of a lengthy wait). You'll receive an X-Ray of the shoulder then Ortho will see you and if your condition is bad enough and I believe yours is, they will schedule you for surgery. Usually a resident will perform the surgery under the tutorship of a board certified surgeon. After the surgery and this is the good part, a Social Worker will come in and interview you and ask what you need such as a grab bar in your shower, shower chair or other things necessary for convalescence. Another good part is that you won't receive a bill if you are Service Connected (SC) greater than 50% or SC on your shoulder.
If it were me, if a resident is going to do the surgery, I would insist that a 3rd year resident do the surgery since they have already done many surgeries. You don't want to be a training aid for a 1st year resident, they are straight out of medical school.

Yeah, registered with the VA, have a primary care. Not only is my shoulder SC, but I’m P&T, so im pretty much set on free medical care as long as im ok with waiting my turn and the random occasional issues with incompetence.

Good idea on the resident thing, I had no idea and likely would have checked into it without knowing.

Suggestions on things to tell the social worker? I have no idea what they have to offer or what I’ll need?

If it's been awhile it might of atrophied with little chance of sucessful repair. I flipped on my mountain bike and could barely use my right arm, got an MRI done and the ortho said too much had been torn awhile and it would be pointless, didn't realize about 10 years back I did a partial tear and just worked though it. Ortho said my only option when it got to hurting too much was a "reverse shoulder replacement", going to have to hurt pretty darn bad before I do that.

Well that sounds like a bad deal. I think all of mine have been partial tears, so I hope. That things aren’t too bad under the hood.

 

[Okie4570]

Been living with a torn right one for a long long time. I've never had several months where I wanted to wipe with my non wiping hand lol. When I get old and slow down I'll deal with it if it's still an option.

 

[264killer]

I fell on the ice 2 years ago . Had MRI & XRAY, torn roto cuff. Doc said imposable to fix was thin as tissue paper. So no surgery , but by the grace of GOD I have regained full motion. And I learned to wipe my butt left handed.

 

[porscheman2944]

I’ve had both of mine torn twice, and especially in the case of my right one, I’m really sick of it. First real tear was probably 14 years ago. I’ll go a while with little pain, doing my thing,and then do something to aggravate things. This last week I managed to do a couple things to aggravate it, and now I’m in enough pain to be nauseous. Not the first time, last few times this happened I threw up. Haven’t thrown up this time. I’m tired of going through this, and want to get it fixed.

Anybody here have the surgery done? What was it like? How long was the recovery? How has your shoulder functioned afterwards?

Has anyone gone through the VA for this sorta thing? How do you get surgery through the VA? How long does it take? I’m a little apprehensive about going this route, as it took me 2 years to get a CPAP/sleep study through the VA.

I had my earlier this year at advanced orthopedics I had 4 tendons torn off detached and torn biceps and rotator torn in 4 pieces. I was mowing the same week ( didn't use arm in sling) can't do anything for 3 months except PT but it has been great. Had to get cortisone shots first, then MRI but I have a high pain tolerance but told my wife this has th get fixed. I used Indian health which I an sure like the VA my other shoulder needed it but never hurt like this one and after 3 months gave up trying to get it done. My right one I kept on them till I got it.

 

[JokerofDeath]

I’m going to tell you the exact process since I’m going through it for a labrum tear….1) make an appt with PC who will refer you to get Xrays and MRI (ortho will not see you without those 1st) 2) you will get referred to either PT or OT (ortho will want you to go through this prior anyway) 3) and this one is the most annoying, your PC will refer you to ortho after your imaging and you wait for ortho to call and schedule an appt, which once they do call could be weeks or months. 4) depending on your mri result and if ortho believes you have an injury they’ll refer you for an arthogram with contrast 5) you wait for ortho to call you to schedule an appt to go back and discuss your arthogram and schedule surgery.

I have dealt with this for a year now and the 1st time I went to ortho they just gave me a steroid injection and then my follow up was cancelled and never rescheduled. You really need to stay on ortho

 

[TedKennedy]

I've had both shoulders repaired, one in 09, one in 13. Screwed up again in 2021, went to shoulder doc and let him stick me with steroid shot. Pain went away, I proceeded to get even more active and when that steroid wore off in a couple months...hoo boy. Don't recommend that.

Wife found me a good physical therapy place. Took a few months, visits twice a week. Couldn't be happier with the results and avoided surgery. Worth a try.

If you do got the surgery route, make sure you do the exercises they tell you. It hurts, but it's necessary.

 

[THAT Gurl]

I’ve had both of mine torn twice, and especially in the case of my right one, I’m really sick of it. First real tear was probably 14 years ago. I’ll go a while with little pain, doing my thing,and then do something to aggravate things. This last week I managed to do a couple things to aggravate it, and now I’m in enough pain to be nauseous. Not the first time, last few times this happened I threw up. Haven’t thrown up this time. I’m tired of going through this, and want to get it fixed.

Anybody here have the surgery done? What was it like? How long was the recovery? How has your shoulder functioned afterwards?

Has anyone gone through the VA for this sorta thing? How do you get surgery through the VA? How long does it take? I’m a little apprehensive about going this route, as it took me 2 years to get a CPAP/sleep study through the VA.

Damn dude ... Not to add to your troubles but I saw a news article that the OKC VA was dealing with a bad case of bed bugs right now.

I would have sworn I tore my right one. It hurt ALL the time. Slightest movement would nearly put me on my knees. MRI didn't show a tear. Ortho argued with me. I said either you can go in there and look or I can find someone who will because I've been dealing with this for a year and I'm done. He was right -- no tear. I was right -- I had an impingement (thanks big boobs) that had shaved cartilage off my bone and had a bunch of shavings floating in the fluid that surrounds your joint. Drained, rinsed out a couple of times and refilled with saline and shaved off the impingement. I've been good for 20 years now.

 

[hunter966]

If you do got the surgery route, make sure you do the exercises they tell you. It hurts, but it's necessary.

Plus 1000